Putting the original question about the interchangeability of Stevens butt stocks aside for a moment, am I reading your above post correctly; that you are indicating that some Stevens M-44 1/2 finger under levers will fit directly into Model 44 actions, and vice versa ?

Could you be more specific about which finger levers will interchange between models and which will not ?

Wisners lists the same lever and part number for both the late 44 and 44 1/2 with .200 pivots. My late 44 has a .157 wide extractor and cut in the lever and a .290 pivot hole in the lever. The extrator cut on my 44 1/2 levers is .260 wide and has a .200 pivot. So, on a late 44 like i have, you could ream the pivot on a 44 1/2 lever to .290 and shim the extractor cut evenly on both sides to .157 (or possibly use a 44 1/2 extractor?) and you'll have a useable lever for the late 44. I have 2 early 44's (7 o'clock) but it didn't look like it would be worth messing with that. I don't know if some of the later 6 o'clock 44's had .200 pivots before they made the .290 bushing type or not.

Thanks for the elaboration, as I initially understood that you were indicating that the finger levers may be removed from one model and walked over and installed in the other model.

That is not what you intended to convey, but now I know that you know the differences among the two models.

Frank, I agree with everything in your second post, but let me discuss one point with you. If one has a late model 44 which is O.E.M. center fire, they shipped with heavy breech blocks and safety hammers with the support ledge. Those blocks had a narrow extractor cut and Stevens milled the extractors narrow in order to fit the high pressure blocks. The finger levers in those high pressure actions also had a narrow extractor cut and the three pieces, block, extractor and finger lever worked together in unison, no problem.

Now, if you would want to move a 44 1/2 finger lever into an O.E.M. high pressure M-44 action, of course you would have to enlarge the pivot pin hole diameter, however, you would not have to shim either side of the extractor at the pivot hole end as you have suggested.

When I was planning such a lever swap, I thought exactly the same thing as you did about shimming each side of the extractor due to the fact that the 44 1/2 lever is milled for the wide extractor. But when you assemble the swapped narrow extractor into the wide extractor lever what keeps the extractor centered is the fact that the extractor is centered in the narrow cut in the high pressure breech block. It works like a charm without the two side shims. I'll get some photos of the one I did and send them attached to an E-mail.